The Lord Often Taught With Parables

“Without a parable spake he not unto them.” – Mark 4:34

What is a Parable?

A parable is a comparison – usually a principle or doctrine explained in a story.  The elements of the story are symbolic, representing things applicable to the principle or doctrine taught within it.  

The neat thing about parables is the level of understanding it varies person to person.  There are those seeking the word of the Lord and will be taught and edified by parables.  And there are those who do not understand them at all.  And there are people in between who grasp things from parables and benefit from the knowledge gained.

A parable can have different meanings to different people, and those meanings can change for those people at different times in their lives.  While the parable remains the same, the knowledge and learning can expand over time.

Teaching in parables was a way for Christ to teach those who believed and were willing to listen.  It was almost a way of weeding out those who didn’t care.  By teaching this way, His teachings weren’t “cast to swine” or those that wanted to find faults in his teachings.  Yet at the same time, those who wanted to follow Him could understand his teachings and use them in their own lives.

Parables can be applied to current topics and questions:

• What describes the future growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints?  
• Parable of the Leaven (Matthew 13:33) A woman adds a little leaven (yeast) in some dough, and eventually the leaven is incorporated all throughout the dough entirely.  Just like the leaven, the Church will eventually spread throughout the world.

• Why does the Church send out so many missionaries?  

• Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50)  Nets are cast into the sea to gather fish of every kind.  When the nets are full, the fish are separated good from bad.  As we send out missionaries, more good fish can be gathered.  The sea is the world and the net is the missionary efforts.  The gathering the good into vessels is the people who accept the gospel and the bad being cast away are those who reject it at that time.

• How do you explain the remarkable growth of the Church, considering that it is fairly new compared to most world religions and started small in the American frontier? 
• Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32) A mustard seed is the least of seeds – very tiny and insignificant in appearance.  But as a mustard seed is planted, it grows into a huge tree.  Like the mustard seed, the Church started out tiny, seemingly insignificant, but as it has grown rapidly and continues to do so, just as the seed grows into a tree.

• Why are some members of the Church willing to sacrifice so much worldly wealth and recognition in order to maintain membership in the Church?
• Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46)  This is one of my favorite parables – it really shows the eternal significance of the gospel.  The parable tells of a man who found a pearl of great price.  He sold everything that he had in order to by that pearl.  This is what members of the Church do – they have the gospel (pearl of great price) and are willing to give up wealth, recognition, and other worldly things in order to keep this valuable pearl.

• Why do some Church members choose to leave the Church? 
• Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30) This parable tells of a man who planted good seeds in his field.  But at night another came and placed seeds of tares (weeds) along with the good seeds!  The man knew that if he tried to remove the tares at first, that the good seeds would just come up with it.  So he let them both grow together and when the time of harvest came, he first took the tares and burned them, and afterwards was able to harvest his crop.  Sometimes people get too caught up in things of the world, just like the good seeds get too mixed in with tares and come up with the tares at harvest time.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price is very meaningful.  It teaches us that we must be willing to sacrifice.  Sacrifices are required to keep the gospel in our lives.  The gospel is the greatest treasure available to us.  I’m willing to sacrifice my job, my clothes, my car, my everyday conveniences and luxuries to have the gospel in my life.  I’m also willing to not shop on Sundays, to pay tithing on my income, to give time and energy to my calling, and attend church ever week.  As we make sacrifices to have the gospel in our lives, we will be able to see the blessings of it and better appreciate the gospel in our lives.